OS Book Club Pt II

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  • Fresh Tendrils
    Strike Hard and Fade Away
    • Jul 2002
    • 36131

    #1291
    Re: OS Book Club Pt II

    The discussion on Luke, Harry, and Paul has had me trying to come up with some kind of favorite or best character list.

    Who do you all have on yours?



    Comment

    • DieHardYankee26
      BING BONG
      • Feb 2008
      • 10178

      #1292
      OS Book Club Pt II

      Good question. It’s tough, I’ve read so much more nonfiction and out of the fiction I’ve read, there’s not a lot of series so I haven’t spent a lot of time with many of them. Some that come to mind in no order:
      The Judge, Blood Meridian
      The father, The Road
      Grand Admiral Thrawn, the OG Thrawn trilogy
      Paul Atreides, Dune/Dune Messiah
      Michael Pemulis, Infinite Jest
      Ye Wenjie, Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy
      Eli Ever & Victor Vale, Villains
      Lilith Iyapo, Xenogenesis Trilogy
      Karellen, Childhoods End
      Charlie, Flowers for Algernon
      Lee, East of Eden
      The narrator, Slaughterhouse-Five (maybe cheating, but it’s a guy telling a story so I’m counting it)
      Esther, The Bell Jar
      Dana, Kindred
      Sethe, Beloved
      Narrator, Invisible Man

      I guess a lot more came to mind than I expected lol. The Judge, the father, Esther, Charlie, and the narrator of Invisible Man are the ones that are really seared into my memory. But Thrawn , Paul, and Karellen are up there as well from a “I really like how they’re presented and written” standpoint. Oh, and Hermione.
      Last edited by DieHardYankee26; 10-27-2021, 12:34 PM.
      Originally posted by G Perico
      If I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
      I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
      In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
      The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up

      Comment

      • JohnnytheSkin
        All Star
        • Jul 2003
        • 5914

        #1293
        Re: OS Book Club Pt II

        Coraline, Coraline
        Logen Ninefingers, First Law Trilogy
        Jaime Lannister, A Song of Ice and Unfinished
        Dolores Umbridge, Harry Potter
        Melanie, The Girl With All the Gifts
        Toranaga, Shogun
        Ford Prefect, Hitchiker's Guide
        Roland Deschain, The Dark Tower
        I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. - Douglas Adams

        Oh, sorry...I got distracted by the internet. - Scott Pilgrim

        Comment

        • KSUowls
          All Star
          • Jul 2009
          • 5891

          #1294
          Re: OS Book Club Pt II

          This was actually a really difficult question because there are many characters whom I like, but very few that I didn't have major criticisms of. Keeping it strictly to novels though:

          Violet Baudelaire (Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events) - She's a fun character, and the source material makes it hard to find time to find major faults.

          Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games) - I hesitate to put her on this list due to the first half of Catching Fire that makes her succumb to the trope that afflicts every YA female protagonist ever, but I just really like how human her character is. She's selfless and brave, but with less grand motivations than someone like Frodo for instance. She's out for herself and her family, and she does whatever she needs to, including not being above petty revenge. All while providing believable context to her skills.

          Grand Admiral Thrawn (Star Wars) - I have only read a handful of Star Wars books ever (none since Disney took over), but I remember Thrawn being one of the best characters in those stories. He's just brilliant.

          Arthur Dent (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) - A man who has just had enough of the universe's **** lol

          Harry Dresden (The Dresden Files) - Not sure if it's the character or the universe I like more, but his character works really well in the down on his luck detective genre mixed with some urban fantasy.

          Comment

          • DieHardYankee26
            BING BONG
            • Feb 2008
            • 10178

            #1295
            OS Book Club Pt II

            Andy Serkis (to nobody’s surprise) is in his bag with all of these different voices, but having the actual Gollum to voice him might have made him my favorite character in Two Towers. He’s like corrupted Dobby. I was absolutely rooting for him to
            Spoiler
            . I don’t really care for Frodo, but I actively dislike Sam.
            Originally posted by G Perico
            If I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
            I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
            In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
            The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up

            Comment

            • Fresh Tendrils
              Strike Hard and Fade Away
              • Jul 2002
              • 36131

              #1296
              Re: OS Book Club Pt II

              I feel like half of my enjoyment with audio books would depend upon the narrator and how well they do with different voices and overall voice acting. There are some books I would love to revisit with a worthwhile voice actor.

              Still need to go through my list of characters, but I'm trying hard to not automatically throw Andy Dufresne and Charles Halloway on it from recent readings.
              Last edited by Fresh Tendrils; 11-01-2021, 07:38 PM.



              Comment

              • DieHardYankee26
                BING BONG
                • Feb 2008
                • 10178

                #1297
                OS Book Club Pt II

                For me most are ok but then there are fantastic ones, like the Thrawn trilogy and Serkis doing LOTR. I can’t remember any that I just outright disliked, the guy who did Fellowship I didn’t love but that’s mostly because he was really trying to sing the songs and that’s mostly the books fault. One I want to check out is Dan Stevens from Legion doing Casino Royale because I see a lot of internet hype for him to be the next Bond.

                Side note, would you say Broken Earth is fantasy or sci-fi?
                Last edited by DieHardYankee26; 11-02-2021, 03:08 PM.
                Originally posted by G Perico
                If I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
                I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
                In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
                The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up

                Comment

                • Hammerhunker
                  MVP
                  • Mar 2003
                  • 3008

                  #1298
                  Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                  Originally posted by Fresh Tendrils
                  I feel like half of my enjoyment with audio books would depend upon the narrator and how well they do with different voices and overall voice acting. There are some books I would love to revisit with a worthwhile voice actor.

                  Still need to go through my list of characters, but I'm trying hard to not automatically throw Andy Dufresne and Charles Halloway on it from recent readings.
                  I see most reviews on Audible that go south is because of the narrator. Audiobooks are my guilty pleasure and most often it's because of the narrator. Roy Dotrice-Game of Thrones and Jim Dale- Harry Potter...good gracious what talents!

                  Comment

                  • Fresh Tendrils
                    Strike Hard and Fade Away
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 36131

                    #1299
                    Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                    Originally posted by DieHardYankee26
                    For me most are ok but then there are fantastic ones, like the Thrawn trilogy and Serkis doing LOTR. I can’t remember any that I just outright disliked, the guy who did Fellowship I didn’t love but that’s mostly because he was really trying to sing the songs and that’s mostly the books fault. One I want to check out is Dan Stevens from Legion doing Casino Royale because I see a lot of internet hype for him to be the next Bond.

                    Side note, would you say Broken Earth is fantasy or sci-fi?
                    Essun is one of the few characters that has popped into my mind since asking for y'all's favorite list of characters. Not sure if I would actually include her, but that trilogy is so strong especially between her and Alabaster.

                    To answer your actual question. That's tough and I don't want to say both even though there are certainly aspects of both. At it's heart it feels more aligned with fantasy and those tropes than outright science fiction. With that said the society and various technologies are described with a sci-fi reference. Still, there's a sense of depending upon that "magic" element that courses throughout fantasy instead of giving it a technical explanation like science fiction usually does.



                    Comment

                    • DieHardYankee26
                      BING BONG
                      • Feb 2008
                      • 10178

                      #1300
                      Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                      Word. I’m trying to figure out what to do next and a million things are popping up into my head. Project Hail Mary I’m pretty sure is next, but then there’s the Broken Earth trilogy, keep going with Dune, recent events have me wanting to finally get into the LBJ Years books. Also kinda wanna finally do Crime and Punishment but I think I’ll save that and Moby Dick for January. LOTR has me wanting to flip the script and read some Black sci-fi but I can’t find a lot of recommendations outside of more Olivia Butler. I guess the Binti trilogy together is about the size of a full novel.
                      Originally posted by G Perico
                      If I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
                      I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
                      In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
                      The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up

                      Comment

                      • Fresh Tendrils
                        Strike Hard and Fade Away
                        • Jul 2002
                        • 36131

                        #1301
                        Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                        Nnedi Okorafor is great, but I need to read more of her stuff outside of Binti. Binti was great and definitely in line with Butler as far as the premise goes.

                        I think you would really enjoy The City We Became from Jemisin. It's a nice urban twist to the typical fantasy setting with a pretty cool premise. I loved it when I read it this past Spring.

                        Looks like Marlon James is releasing the sequel to Black Leopard, Red Wolf next February titled Moon Witch, Spider King. Props to Goodreads for alerting me of the AR giveaway for that.



                        Comment

                        • Hammerhunker
                          MVP
                          • Mar 2003
                          • 3008

                          #1302
                          Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                          Originally posted by DieHardYankee26
                          Word. I’m trying to figure out what to do next and a million things are popping up into my head. Project Hail Mary I’m pretty sure is next, but then there’s the Broken Earth trilogy, keep going with Dune, recent events have me wanting to finally get into the LBJ Years books. Also kinda wanna finally do Crime and Punishment but I think I’ll save that and Moby Dick for January. LOTR has me wanting to flip the script and read some Black sci-fi but I can’t find a lot of recommendations outside of more Olivia Butler. I guess the Binti trilogy together is about the size of a full novel.
                          Project Hail Mary was entertaining. Like the Martian, the way he interjects math into his story makes me want to go do math for the fun of it, lol.

                          Comment

                          • Fresh Tendrils
                            Strike Hard and Fade Away
                            • Jul 2002
                            • 36131

                            #1303
                            Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                            Yesterday I finished up the first story of Stephen King's Different Seasons - Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Somehow I managed to avoid seeing the movie my whole life so this whole thing was fresh. Man, what a freaking wave of emotions at the end. The story is so simple and straight forward, but King effortlessly engages and engrosses you. Before you know it you're actively in that gloomy jail and beside the narrator as he tells the story of Andy Dufresne.

                            It's amazing to me how easily King is able to tap those emotional responses and infuse his stories with.



                            Comment

                            • Fresh Tendrils
                              Strike Hard and Fade Away
                              • Jul 2002
                              • 36131

                              #1304
                              Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                              re: Favorite Characters

                              I finally had time to stare at my bookshelves and, aside from now wanting to reread a lot more, I think I've come up with pretty good list:

                              Charles/William Halloway - Something Wicked This Way Comes
                              Spoiler


                              Matilda - Matilda
                              Spoiler


                              Sethe - Beloved
                              Spoiler


                              Lauren Oya Olamina - Parable of the Sower
                              Spoiler


                              Bill Denbrough - IT
                              Spoiler


                              Ged - A Wizard of Earthsea
                              Spoiler


                              Doc Sportello - Inherent Vice
                              Spoiler


                              The Judge - Blood Meridian
                              Spoiler


                              Hermione - Harry Potter
                              Spoiler



                              Comment

                              • DieHardYankee26
                                BING BONG
                                • Feb 2008
                                • 10178

                                #1305
                                Re: OS Book Club Pt II

                                Lord of the Rings

                                More like Lore of the Rings, amirite? The fact that he considers the whole thing one book is pretty apparent because the endings of these books in themselves are not super satisfying, but if it was just the end of Part I or II to a longer book, it wouldn't be much of an issue. That said, Fellowship did not do much for me. I appreciate that he clearly has put in a lot of effort to build Middle Earth and make it feel like a real place with a history but I also feel like a lot of the times the world is being built at the expense of my enjoyment. Dune had a lot of world building as well, but it seemed useful. What is spice, what is the history of the Atreides Harkonnen feud, etc. There's a lot of that in here as well, one thing I thought was really cool was Treebeard in Two Towers explaining that trolls were made in the image of the ents in the same way that the orcs were made in the image of the elves. That, to me at least, is a cool piece of world building that goes a long way to explaining how we got to the world as it is. Then on the other hand, you'll get Faramir telling the story of his whole family tree and it's like who cares? What am I supposed to do with this? A lot of the times reading I felt like I needed a map of Middle Earth just to understand what they were talking about. Then there's the pacing. On Two Towers, the first half (Book 3) had 3 of my favorite chapters, with Treebeard, Helm's Deep, and Gandalf running down on Saruman and scaring him into staying in his tower. Then you move to Book 4 and it's just Frodo and Sam meandering for a lot of it. If it weren't for Andy Serkis narrating and the Gollum voice (which I absolutely love btw) it would've been a tough read. It's really interesting reading the books and then watching the movies right after because you notice little things done in different order. Boromir's death in Fellowship is the first chapter of The Two Towers is one. Another is Eowyn wanting to go into battle and saying how the people who follow Aragorn do it out of love happens at Helms Deep in the Two Towers movie but happen before Aragorn goes on the path of the dead in Return of the King in the books.

                                In Fellowship I liked the Council of Elrond if only because my guy Elrond asks Bilbo to tell a story and then tells him not to sing it because they don't have time for it and I felt him very strongly on that. Two Towers had my favorite moments I think, meeting Treebeard, Helms Deep, Gandalf v. Saruman, Shelob. Return of the King has the Siege of Gondor, with the orcs catapulting the heads of fallen men back into the city which I thought was awesome. Then the second half, oh my goodness man. The journey ends in the worst, most inconsequential way imaginable in chapter 3...and then we get basically a 6 chapter epilogue of celebrations, reunions, departures. I thought maybe the Scouring of the Shire could save me but then Frodo just lets Saruman walk and no one I care about has anything to do with how he gets to his end. Just an absolute disaster of pacing, I hated it. If I had waited to watch the movies after reading all 3 books in the trilogy, I wouldn't have watched the movies, I would've washed my hands of this nonsense and gone about my day. Needless to say, this stuff is just not for me. A movie cut of these books would probably go a long way for me, but as they are, I will never read these again.

                                Two Towers > Fellowship >>>> Return of the King
                                Originally posted by G Perico
                                If I ain't got it, then I gotta take it
                                I can't hide who I am, baby I'm a gangster
                                In the Rolls Royce, steppin' on a mink rug
                                The clique just a gang of bosses that linked up

                                Comment

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